Posted on 10/04/2007 4:29:01 AM PDT by Kaslin
WOODSTOCK, VT. — The Wall Street Journal, no left wing publication, reports that Republicans may soon lose the votes of some economic conservatives. In part, it’s because of the unending war in Iraq and social policies they don’t like, but they might swallow hard and continue to vote Republican anyway if GOP fiscal policies did not mimic the Democrats when it comes to the deficit and spending.
Maybe what the GOP needs is a fall foliage trip to Vermont where there is an oasis in a desert of fossilized ‘60s liberalism. You might not think so at first glance because here, someone seems to have pushed the “pause” button on the Age of Aquarius.
A trip to local bookstores is like visiting Democratic National Committee headquarters. No, that’s not quite accurate. It’s more like visiting MoveOn.org headquarters. Buttons that say “Impeach Cheney First” compete with bumper stickers with messages like “Freedom of Religion Means Freedom FROM Religion” and “Never Have Sex with a Pro-Lifer.”
The most conservative book I could find was one by Jimmy Carter. There are “EmbarrassMints” with a picture of President Bush on the lid of the confection tin. I bought an Elvis Impersonation Kit just for fun. You get the idea.
President Bush has avoided Vermont during his presidency, but he might want to consider leading a pilgrimage of Republican candidates back to a little hamlet just down the road, which produced a Republican president with ideas his party desperately needs.
That hamlet is Plymouth Notch and that president was Calvin Coolidge. Today’s Republicans seem to have an identity crisis. Their focus groups and pollsters have been unable to tell them what they believe. Sen. John McCain is an Episcopalian who wants to become a Baptist, but won’t “convert” until after the election, lest it seem like opportunism. Rudy Giuliani is pro-choice, but promises to name judges who interpret the Constitution as written and doesn’t care if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Fred Thompson believes the opposite of what he said he believed a very short time ago. Ditto Mitt Romney. Those GOP candidates who have been consistent in their convictions — like former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Sen. Sam Brownback and even Rep. Ron Paul — are back in the pack. Does that say more about us than it does them?
The president ought to visit Vermont and Coolidge’s birth and burial place. It looks pretty much the way it did when Coolidge lived there and visited as president. The state and private contributors (including me as I serve in an unpaid advisory capacity) have kept it that way.
Coolidge has received a bad rap from historians like Arthur Schlesinger Jr., comedian Will Rogers and the columnist H.L. Mencken. But his wisdom survives precisely because it transcends generations. At a time when people are busy looking for “new” ideas, Coolidge — whom historian Paul Johnson has called the last president of the 19th century — speaks immutable truths.
On taxes, how could any modern Republican improve on this pearl from Coolidge: “Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.”
In a rebuke to the “progressives” who engage in class envy and class warfare, while seeking to redistribute other people’s wealth, Coolidge instructs: “Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.”
There’s something for the “law and order” crowd that might reduce the prison population and improve neighborhood safety: “I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement.”
One of my personal favorites is: “Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character.” Ah, character. It was taught in Coolidge’s era. It has been largely abandoned in ours.
Maybe that’s why Coolidge warned in his July 5, 1926 speech on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence about the consequences of forgetting things that matter most: “we cannot continue to enjoy the result, if we neglect and abandon the cause.”
Yes, President Bush should lead his fellow Republicans to Vermont to study the thoughts and principles of Calvin Coolidge, though they might wish to stay out of the bookstores.
I went to school there back in the early 60’s and I remember VT being much as you stated. Once the hippies realized just how sparsely the state was populated, the handwriting was on the wall.
That said, the town is as leftist as they come. The galleries and bookstores are basically run by left-wing homosexuals. A special word of caution. The police department there is corrupt. They target out-of-state plates and run speed-traps right in the downtown area. They once follwed us ten miles out of town to a restaurant, then waited in the parking lot until we left and followed us back. When I pulled over and stopped he passed me, went ahead and set up a speed trap a mile ahead. I coasted by at 5 under the limit. The manager at the Inn warns people but they still get you! Watch out for the crooked cops!
Unfortunately Vermont’s exhippies and NY/MA liberal transplants have moved there in large enough numbers over the last 40 years that they exceed the number of oldtime conservative Yankees.
The owners of the family farm are now outnumbered by the Ben & Jerrys liberals. The “northeast kingdom” is still extremely rural and unpopulated except by cows. Most of the liberals live in Burlington(college town) and the southern part of the state.
We are seeing the same thing happen in NH where we are just beginning to get outvoted by MA transplants.
He misspelled Precious Willard, otherwise this is bull$hit.
Vermont is probably about as liberal as Massachusetts with the added disadvantage as they don’t get out as much and lack the social interaction and camaraderie Boston’s Irish pubs and eateries.
Interesting history lesson. I actually lived there for 5 years and I highly doubt the highest gun ownership per capita. The native Vermonters (dairy farmers and the such) are good people and this may be true among them. The trust fund baby hippies have squeezed out the natives, and it certainly isn’t true with for them. It doesn’t take many people, because the population of the entire state was around 700k last time I checked (several years back). It is a beautiful state and people are very friendly. Nice place to visit!
It is good that he has not delivered our federal dollars to vermont. I highly doubt VT has a tax base enough to warrant a return of many dollars.
Vermont and New Hampshire could potentially be conservative again some day since the liberals aren’t having any children and the conservatives there are having children. That is, if inmigration slows, which I believe it has.
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